by J. D. Robb
“Yeah, yeah. Hasta la whatever the hell.”
She walked to the office, where Roarke sat at an orderly desk contentedly working on Hyatt’s d and c. “Put it away,” Roarke said.
“What away?”
“The idea that if you’d gotten to him sooner, or hadn’t pushed at him in a certain way, Kellie Lowry would be alive. It’s as much a fallacy—and as egotistic, really—as blaming yourself Mars died while you were having a drink with a colleague.”
“I’m working on it because I know better. And I don’t like the ego crack.”
“Truth is often harsh. It’s all here,” he continued. “His searches for the method, how long, on average, a human being will bleed to death, how the body shuts down and so on, from those specific wounds. He ordered the scalpel online from a medical supply house about two months ago.”
“Planning and practice time.” She came around to read the screen over his shoulder.
“Yes. He’s meticulously—he had meticulous in common with Mars—detailed Mars’s movements, her haunts, and he’s listed some of her marks he identified when he shadowed her. He practiced on a droid. In the closet there.”
Eve walked over, opened the closet, studied the economy droid with numerous gashes on the arms, on the thighs.
“He has Kellie Lowry in here as well. You were quite right about them using the same gym. He even took a few yoga classes with her. He also has several files dedicated to Annie Knight.”
“I’d have been surprised if he didn’t have files on her.”
“His devotion there is extreme,” Roarke said. “She is perfection to him, and he did indeed see himself as—as you put it—her shiny knight. His respect for Bic has been disintegrating over the last months. It’s now down to disgust. I believe it may have gone further in time.”
Those wild blue eyes flicked up to Eve’s. “That’s Mira’s territory, but if he did kill again, he would have felt justified in eliminating the man he believed allowed his goddess to be tormented.”
Roarke reached for Eve’s hand. “So consider you very likely saved a life. And this sort of obsession can grow and turn—as you know. He may have devolved until he killed Annie, then himself.”
“Mira territory, but yeah, I can see it.” Had already gone there in her head. “I’m going to have Baxter and Trueheart finish this up. Finalize the search, take in the electronics. They should have a part in it. I need to write it up. At home.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “Let’s go home.”
“Let’s go home,” he agreed.
She set the sealed weapon on the desk for Baxter and Trueheart, went back to the living area, got her field kit. “I need to tag DeWinter—I said I would. And Nadine. Nadine’ll take longer.”
“From home.”
“Yeah, from home.” She stepped out, sealed the door, took out her ’link to tag Baxter as they walked to the elevator.
Before they reached the car, the snow had started, thin, swirling flakes against the black sky, the brilliant lights of the city.
Home, she thought, where the shadows could be banished. Where all that mattered was right there.
“After I make the tags and write this up, let’s crack a bottle of wine and watch a vid. Something funny. Like stupid funny. Something ridiculous.”
“I can come up with one of those.”
“You never let me down.” She stowed the field kit, turned to him.
And, at least for the moment, she put it aside. For the moment she leaned into him, wrapped around him, and kissed him while the snow swirled white against the bitter.
TITLES BY J. D. ROBB
Naked in Death
Glory in Death
Immortal in Death
Rapture in Death
Ceremony in Death
Vengeance in Death
Holiday in Death
Conspiracy in Death
Loyalty in Death
Witness in Death
Judgment in Death
Betrayal in Death
Seduction in Death
Reunion in Death
Purity in Death
Portrait in Death
Imitation in Death
Divided in Death
Visions in Death
Survivor in Death
Origin in Death
Memory in Death
Born in Death
Innocent in Death
Creation in Death
Strangers in Death
Salvation in Death
Promises in Death
Kindred in Death
Fantasy in Death
Indulgence in Death
Treachery in Death
New York to Dallas
Celebrity in Death
Delusion in Death
Calculated in Death
Thankless in Death
Concealed in Death
Festive in Death
Obsession in Death
Devoted in Death
Brotherhood in Death
Apprentice in Death
Echoes in Death
Secrets in Death
ANTHOLOGIES
Silent Night
(with Susan Plunkett, Dee Holmes, and Claire Cross)
Out of This World
(with Laurell K. Hamilton, Susan Krinard, and Maggie Shayne)
Remember When
(with Nora Roberts)
Bump in the Night
(with Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
Dead of Night
(with Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
Three in Death
Suite 606
(with Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
In Death
The Lost
(with Patricia Gaffney, Mary Blayney, and Ruth Ryan Langan)
The Other Side
(with Mary Blayney, Patricia Gaffney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
Time of Death
The Unquiet
(with Mary Blayney, Patricia Gaffney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
Mirror, Mirror
(with Mary Blayney, Elaine Fox, Mary Kay McComas, and R. C. Ryan)
Down the Rabbit Hole
(with Mary Blayney, Elaine Fox, Mary Kay McComas, and R. C. Ryan)
About the Author
J. D. Robb is the pseudonym for the New York Times bestselling author of more than two hundred novels, including the futuristic suspense In Death series. There are more than five hundred million copies of the author’s books in print. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Epigraphs
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Titles by J. D. Robb
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
SECRETS IN DEATH. Copyright © 2017 by Nora Roberts. All rights
reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Ervin Serrano
Cover photographs: street © Black Star/Alamy Stock Photo; buildings © Sven Hartmann/EyeEm/Getty Images; glass © Xanya69/Shutterstock.com
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-12315-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-12318-3 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781250123183
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First Edition: September 2017